I’ve been trying to keep up with the Olympics, and watching as many of the live competitions as possible. It’s hard, though, as I’m sure many of you know, since many of them are being held during the wee hours of the night. I saw most of Michael Phelps’ gold medal swims, and most of May-Marsh’s volleyball wins, and even most of the gymnastics routines. However, it has become increasingly hard for me during the tail end of the Olympics to keep up, given Bean’s bedtime routine. Dave and I have decided to start introducing her to a regular bedtime routine — bath at 10:30pm, last dinner feeding, then off to bed in our bedroom in her bassinet. By 11:30p to midnight, she should be sound asleep, and shouldn’t wake up until 10:30am the next day except two or three times to feed during the middle of the night. It has gone very well over the last week. She still protests when I put her down and leave her alone in our bedroom in the dark (”SQUAWK!! HOLD ME, LOVE ME!!!”) but the squawks have become less in frequency and duration, so we can’t complain. She’s been treating me very well during late-night feedings, only awake long enough to eat, and then I put her down after her burp and a diaper change. All done within half an hour. What an adorable, lovely child we have.

Anyway, the Olympics. Did you hear about the latest rumored scam from the Chinese? Apparently, a few of their athletes were given fake birth certificates in order to compete, specifically in the gymnastics competition. At least one of the girls is apparently only 13 years old, and you have to be at least 16 to compete in the Olympics. If it’s true (and forgive me, I haven’t really researched this rumor thoroughly yet), it’s rather sad. The Chinese is in top standing as far as gold medals go, and we all know how dedicated they are when they put their minds on something. But geez, not at the hands of cheating. It just puts down the whole Olympics altogether. It’s sad. To me, this is as highly intolerable as athletes taking steroids or taking diet pills that work just to lose weight to compete. Come on, that’s not what the Olympics is about. It’s about friendly sportsmanship, being the best you can be naturally, working hard, going for the gold for the world (and not just for your country).

Anyway, I’m still enjoying the games. I can’t wait to watch May-Marsh’s finals tonight!

The 2008 Summer Olympics is coming very, very soon. Just mere days. I am very excited about this, actually, as I have been following the summer olympics ever since I can remember. I loved watching the opening ceremony and then the closing ceremony, and every sport in between. I love almost all the sports that are displayed, and I love seeing the world come together to fight in friendly competition. The way I see it, if we concentrate on sports as a competition, we would probably have less wars and political bullshit that we have today. All that aggression would come out readily and steadily and healthily in the form of exercise. It’s awesome.

This year, the politics in the air is pretty smelly. With China hosting the summer games this time around, it’s really crazy. I am so torn about all of this. I think that it’s crazy that there have been so much violent protests concerning China being the host. I applaud those who want to protest, but terrorism and war in the name of “peace” isn’t peaceful at all. I don’t agree with what China is doing with Tibet and their people being in such dire living conditions, but seriously… how is hurting the one event that brings the world together going to make China’s government “learn” their lesson? It’s just going to harm and kill more innocent people. It just puts a whole damper on things. It’s uncalled for. And it gives China a reason to fight back with more force and violence. Heightened security, police brutality, all the works. It’s not pretty. It saddens me when I see this in the news.

But regardless of all that, I am rooting for all the hard-working athletes who are participating in the summer games. They’ve all worked butt ass hard and they deserve this spotlight without fear. I’m looking forward to seeing all the games.

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Yesterday, Dave and I went to see the new Batman movie… The Dark Knight or something like that. We went because it was our official first year wedding anniversary. Wow, a whole year! We haven’t been to the movies in a very long time, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, spending time with the husband outside of the house. The movie was pretty awesome. It was the best Batman movie ever made, seriously. The other ones in the past have been very cheesy. Even the best one was borderline cheesy. This one was definitely an “adult” Batman movie. I wouldn’t recommend it to young kids, or even younger adolescents. It’s a pretty twisted plot. Even Dave was impressed, and he hardly gets impressed over a movie. Heath Ledger was totally awesome in it. It’s too bad that he passed, as this role he played was definitely the highlight of his career. What an actor! I totally believed the twisted, insane, psychotic Joker that he played. Pretty creepy guy. Didn’t look like the actor at all. I wonder who would play the next Joker if this series of Batman continues. That actor is going to have big shoes to fill.

I’ve been keeping contact with my best friend from work, Jenbug. She’s been updating me every so often regarding some of my clients and how they’re doing, that she knows of. It’s so neat to know how clients are doing. Some of them I wonder if they’re doing better or worse than when I last left them (I expect some of them are probably going through some type of foreclosure). We were looking up the jail roster in town and it was so depressing to find a few of my old clients on the list. Past clients getting arrested and are now in jail. I’m so bummed about it. It really sucks. I always wish these people well after I leave them, and as much as I can, I believe and visualize that I’m leaving them in a better place than when I met them. Sometimes it’s not true. Sometimes, things screw up no matter how much goodness I visualize. I can only hope that they make it through whatever milestone they are experiencing in their lives.

Well, on that depressing note, I’m gonna take a quick shower before Lily Bean wakes up for another feeding.

Boy, this site is getting harder and harder to update. I’ve been doing the majority of my daily blog updates at Lily Bean’s site. Everything seems to revolve around this little girl of ours now. It’s kind of weird how much our lives have changed, and how our schedules take on a whole new avenue. I remember what it was like (since it was just like, a week and a half ago.. haha) when Dave and I could spontaneously leave the house for a quick dinner and a movie. Now, we have to plan the movie, seeing as how I can’t imagine how we would bring a newborn with us inside a theatre. Disaster waiting to happen. But then we think about how on Earth we would even want to leave Lily Bean for two hours at a time. My heart sometimes hurts just going to sleep because I wouldn’t be conscious to croon over her. I know, it’s silly, but we’re still in the honeymoon “we’re so in love” stage. I hope it never goes away, to be honest.

So now every time we want to go out, or have to go out (like to a doctor’s visit, or shopping for some odds and ends), we have to spend at least 24 hours planning it, making sure we pack things for the baby bag — enough diapers? cream? foodage? bottle? or boob? blanket in case she gets cold? socks? hat? wipes? etc. You get the idea.

Everything I’m doing now revolves around her, so I feel like I have nothing much to say on this site in particular. Heh. I’ve been catching up on a lot of rest. Dave’s been happily waiting on me hand and foot (he’s SO good to me!!) so that I can take time to heal and rest. Having the husband home with a newborn is sooo beneficial. We’re bonding so much as a family. It’s such an amazing experience, especially with a first newborn. I’m so glad we were able to both take at least 3 or 4 months off like this. Every so often, he and I would look at each other, smile, and give each other a nice, big ol’ hug. Creating a baby sure makes you fall in love with someone all over again. At my very worst, he loves me. During contractions, he loves me. During labor, he loves me. During my days-after-the-hospital-when-I-couldn’t-shower, he still loves me. When my belly is protuding, he loves me. When it’s flabby and weird and bandaged up and scarred after childbirth, he loves me. When I can’t even get into the tub by myself, he still loves me. I can see it in his eyes. He adores me and he respects me.

He was telling me how amazed and impressed he was with me during the whole childbirth thing. He said I never screamed once, and I always had a good sense of humor, cracking jokes even during the worst contractions. He said he had trouble understanding how severe labor pains were because I was so good-natured about it all. Heh. He said I didn’t complain once, I didn’t get angry once, and I was always very polite with everyone I met and talked to, including all the nurses and the doctors. I was wondering before the whole birth what I would be like during labor — a screamer? (I had thought so, but I guess not) a whiner? a crier? Dave said that although I reported the pains, I wasn’t whining about them. I did cry a couple of times though, which really made it hit home for him.

Anyway, Lily Bean is going to get up and ask for another feeding pretty soon. I better get going. Hope you’re having an awesome Monday. Everyday bleeds into the next for me now. Heh. I forget what days are which!

(I’m looking into getting one of those Santa Fe dehumidifiers… anyone have any experience with them?)

So, if you haven’t heard, I’ve given birth. I’m no longer “tired pregnant lady.” Now, I’m just “tired lady.” Heh. All the details of the birth and stuff are located at Bean’s site, if you’re interested. In the meantime, let me pass on a bit of weird story telling I’ve collected from my time at the hospital during the last 4 days. In the maternity post-partum room I was staying in, I had to share the room with two other beds. One bed kept rotating in and out, with new mothers leaving before I did (due to them having natural births versus c-sections, like I did), while the other bed was occupied by the same new mother for as long as I was there. This new mother was incredibly… how do I say… inappropriate.

Dude. She must have been all but in her late teens, and her boyfriend who also happened to be the baby daddy to her new son, was also there with her. The baby was taken away primarily because he had a little heart murmur, but I think the real reason is (after eavesdropping on several of their conversations and hearing what the nurses had talked to them about across the hall from my bed, etc.) that the hospital was concerned about child neglect and abuse. The girl presented as borderline retarded, and the boy didn’t seem much more intelligent than that. The first day and a half, the baby didn’t get fed because the girl “tried” breast feeding a “couple of times” (according to her), and got discouraged because the milk wasn’t coming in (duh, it’s only the first day!). So then she just didn’t feed the poor kid, from what I gathered. She didn’t even ask for the nurse to come in and give the baby some formula (like any sane mother would do if she was concerned her breast milk wasn’t coming in to give sustenance to her baby). When the hospital found this out, I think they had to investigate and see if the couple had the capacity and ability to parent appropriately. The pediatrician on duty was called and she asked them a whole bunch of questions about her possible drug and alcohol consumption and/or abuse during pregnancy, and whether or not they were feeding the baby. The girl slurred her speech and was really low affect, so it was concerning. The baby was taken away and was put in an incubator for a couple of nights, hence prolonging their stay at the hospital, hence why I had them for as long as I did. Her labor was natural too, so she should’ve just had to stay one night.

Then one day, their whole extended family came to visit. Literally, like, it felt like an episode of “Trailer Trash Boys” exploded in my hospital room. There were about 10 visitors there, and they were all bragging about how they were all wasted last night. Even the grandmother inappropriately was going on and on in this weird southern hick accent about how she was completely wasted on Crown Royal the night before. The nurse later on came in to ask how everything was going, really casually, and the girl responded, “Oh, I’m a little drunk.” And the nurse had to do a double take and ask again, “Wait, wha..?” The girl said she was depressed because she was kept against her will at the hospital cuz they wouldn’t release her with her baby. The girl was also bragging to her friends earlier the previous day about smoking during contractions to relieve the pain. Dude. Geez. As much as the contractions were killing me, never once did it occur to me to smoke throughout it. What the hell.

Anyway, that was a little weird. It made my stay that much more annoying, knowing another newborn born the same day as our Lily Bean was being treated this way. It just makes me sad.

But on to happier notes, we are so in love with this beautiful baby girl of ours. We can’t stop staring at her. The faces and expressions she makes are just so classic. We’ve got a camera literally permanently shoved in her face, poor thing. Heh. We’re trying to get a normal schedule going, or as normal as we can make it now. I’m thinking of getting some more laptop memory for both of our laptops, but that may not come for a while. Right now, everything revolves around Lily. :D

Welpers, it’s the weekend again, and I’ve done a very poor job at keeping this site updated, haven’t I? To re-cap what’s been going on during this week: absolutely nothing. Heh. I did a whole lot of being achy, cleaning, working (on reports), a doctor’s visit, feeling Bean tumbling and rumbling inside my uterus, talking and hanging out with Dave, playing with Tink, revelling in the baby’s room. Rewind, repeat. It feels good not to have to go to work everyday, and wake up and sleep whenever I want to. Other people are doing things for their summer vacation, like making a Las Vegas travel or going to Australia (my SIL!). Me? I’m here waiting for a baby to be born. I’m 38 weeks along today, which means Baby Bean can come any minute now. I have absolutely no feeling regarding whether or not I think she’s gonna come early or late. I had thought she was going to come late (after July 12), but symptoms suggest otherwise right now (increased pelvic pressure pain, her head has already dropped down to my pelvic area, a couple of false contractions, my back hurting like a b*tch, more tiredness, etc.). So I don’t know. I will plead the 5th on what my gut feeling is. Dave thinks she’s going to come July 23. Seems like such a long way from now. Other people think she’s going to come this weekend. Realistically, the only one who knows when she’s going to make her debut is her. And maybe the Universe. But other than that, it’s completely random. We’re just sitting around playing the waiting game now.

I’m already getting several people email me, or call me up, asking, “Is the baby there yet?!!” Well, no, ya silly dorks!! With me being so hypervigilant with keeping baby news updated everywhere, do you think I’d have kept it from the internet world if Baby Bean has arrived? Of course not! You’d better believe that there will be at least 300 photos posted all over the place within the first 24 hours (okay, maybe not, but you get the idea). Heh.

I’ve been a little more grumpy than usual too. I believe it’s because of the physical achiness that comes with being so far along in the pregnancy. I’m trying to hold it together, but the other day, while watching Joy Luck Club with Dave (it happened to be on tv, and it’s one of my favorite movies), I ended up sobbing throughout it. It was kinda silly. It’s a sad movie to begin with, but dude, I was SOBBING. Dave came by and laughed at me and held me and said I was so cute and beautiful, and kissed my tears. And I sobbed even harder. And then the other night my back was hurting so badly, nothing I could do could’ve relieved it. No laying down position made it better, no side position made it better, no standing or sitting position made it better. I was so frustrated, I started crying. Talk about hormonal.

So, I now leave you with another little survey. I’m the self-declared survey queen.

THE SIGNIFICANT OTHER SURVEY

Just Basic Stuff:
Are you single?
No.

For how long?
I haven’t been single for approximately 10 years now.

Who should make the first move?
Whoever feels comfortable.

Who should pay on the first date?
I don’t mind going halfsies, but Dave paid for our first date.

Have you ever been in a serious relationship?
Oh yes. I’m in one now. Heh.

Ever been in love?
Very much so right now.

Ever have your heart broken?
Yes. A couple of times.

Ever break someone else’s heart?
Yes, a couple of times.

Ever been cheated on?
Yes. It ain’t fun. That pretty much ended my last relationship.

Straight/Gay/Bi?
I’m straight.

Best place to go for a date?
The beach? Or stay home and watching a movie together.

How many dates until it becomes a relationship?
Errm… until it’s discussed, I suppose. Maybe like, 5 or 6? I don’t know.

How many dates until the first kiss?
I kissed Dave on the first date, but we’ve known each other for 2 years prior to that.

How many dates until you go further?
Erm. It depends on the person, the chemistry, etc. I don’t have a set rule.

How long was your longest relationship?
This current one: going on over 8 years now. The one before this, approximately a year.

Does your family like your current/last bf or gf?
Yes, they adore Dave. I think they like him better than me.

What about your friends?
Yes, they all seem to like Dave, as far as I know.

Does it matter what people think of the person you’re seeing usually?
Yes, I think friends’ and family’s opinions matter. They know me best, outside of this relationship. I trust my friends.

Do you get jealous?
Nope. Not usually. I fake jealousy sometimes though. “Is that Susan calling again?!!!” (sorry, private joke heh)

Do you fight because of jealousy?
Nope. We never fought over jealousy. Weird, huh?

Do you stilll see your friends as much as when you are/were single?
Yeah, I should say so. I’ve always been a hermit though, but I try to make time for my friends.

How does the person you’re with feel about your family?
Dave likes my family. He sometimes doesn’t understand the culture, but he tries his best.

How about friends?
He likes all my friends. I make awesome friends.

Does it matter what they think about your friends or family?
Yes. I like everyone to get along. It stresses me out when people I love don’t get along.

Do you like when they surprise you with gifts?
Yes, I love surprises!!

Would you marry them?
I did marry him! Hee.

Would you have kids with them?
We’re having a kid together! Go Baby Bean go!

Would it bother you if they…

had a lot of tattoos? nope
piercings? nope, he has one!
dyed hair? nope
if they smoked? yes; thank goodness he quit
if they did drugs? depending on which kind
owned a motorcycle? I’d be worried about safety
joined the military? yes; I don’t like the military and what it stands for
drank alcohol? nope
had more friends of the opposite sex? nope
committed a crime? depending on what type
(like, if he stole from the rich and gave to the poor, I’d be like “GO HUSBAND GO!!” :P)
were rude to your friends? yes; thank goodness Dave’s the picture of politeness
had children already? nope
were ugly? huh? I don’t consider anyone I love ugly
were a different religion? as long as he’s okay with me not being that religion
had different political views? yes; I think political views are very important in a relationship
lived in another state? we used to; long term wise, it wouldn’t work out
lived in another country? we used to! hehe
had no job? would bug me, yes
were bad with money? depending on how bad: I’m not overly great with money either
were jealous of your friends? yes: what’s there to be jealous of?!

This or That…?

Light hair or dark hair? either: Dave has dirty brown hair
Taller or shorter? must be taller
Thin or Heavy? medium
Smoker or non? non-smoker please
Night in or night out? night in!
Brown, Blue, or Green eyes? any! Dave has hazel eyes
Punk or thug? either: dude, enough with the labels: just be yourself
Prep or Skater? whatever
Surfer or Thug? ugh
Funny or serious? both
Smart or Funny? both
Athletic or Smart? smart
Artistic or Athletic? artistic
Shy or Outgoing? shy
Crazy or normal? a little of both, please

Well, another week has come and gone. Last week was my last week of “client contact” (though I think I should probably see one particular client one last time, since I technically didn’t say goodbye to her yet). So now, it’s just doing paperwork and closing cases out. And then I’m all done with work. Fortunately, I can do all of this latter part at home. My boss told me yesterday during our baby shower that I could just email her all the files so I don’t have to come into the office again. I think I shall have to still come in at least one last time to turn in all my physical files and to have lunch with my Jenbug again before going on maternity leave for good. I am relieved, actually, to not have to deal with a lot of these social services issues at work. I am relieved to not have to deal with medicare insurance for my clients, or getting them extra services that they deserve, or figuring out how to help them pay their monthly bills, or getting them into counseling or medical care, or helping them with childcare and daycare costs, or any of those things. Sometimes, I feel more like a social worker than a therapist because a lot of the things most of my clients are struggling with have to do with daily basic living. While I am so very happy to be able to advocate for these people who deserve the very basics in life, especially in the “wealthiest country in the world,” I am anxious for my break. Just to take a break from taking care of everyone else so I can take care of myself and my own. It sounds like bliss.

Of all the memes to miss, I always seem to do best with Friday 5. Grr. Eh well. Maybe I’ll do a late version of it later. In the meantime, I’m enjoying my Saturday. No appointments or obligations except to get my car in for a regular tune-up and oil change and tweaking. Only downside to that is the cost of upkeep (similar to upgrading dell memory for laptop, for example — it’s costly). I wish I could just take my bike everywhere. That would be sweet. Would save a lot on gas ($1.36 per gallon — W.T.F.?!), energy, upkeep costs, etc. Maybe if/when I get another job closer to home, I’d be able to do that more regularly. Would be nice.

Looks like Obama will be our next Democratic nominee for presidency in November. WOOHOO!!! Let me just tell ya how incredibly happy I am about this. Hillary is such a backstabber — going back on things she’s said, letting violent phrases escape her lips and then making excuses for them later on, etc. As much as I don’t trust politicians in general, Obama is the clearest choice. The most honest choice, if there is such a thing. I’m definitely voting for him, and that’s pretty clear. I don’t think he’s too fond of Hillary either, and I’m hoping he doesn’t have her run as his vice president. The only upside to that would be that Hillary voters won’t vote for McCain, like they’ve been threatening (that’s the most stupidest thing I’ve heard — ever. Why the fuck would you vote for your political enemy just to shove it to your party’s inner competition? STUPID). Anyway, November should be interesting, to say the very least. We have a lot on the line for this country. While I’m busy escaping it, I know there are many out there who are still struggling day to day. I work with them. I fight for them. Every single day. It would be a blessing to have someone in office who understands this everyday struggle of the working class poor.

One of the things I am totally looking forward to after giving birth (and post-healing and stuff) is getting a decent hot bath. I haven’t had a hot bath since the end of October, and since the pregnancy began, I was forbidden this luxury for the safety of the baby. With our new bathroom all pretty (and remaining pretty given my weekly cleaning sessions!), I am so looking forward to getting a bubble bath again. Maybe even with Baby Bean (when she’s a little older and not so slippery and I’m not so panicky about her safety, that is)! Right now, the only thing I can think of that would make bath time more pleasurable for me is if I had one of those walk in bathtubs. Getting in and out of the bathtub is beginning to prove difficult, given the weight in front of me and my feet and legs being so sore. I can’t describe this feeling at all… I guess what I can sum it up to is if you were trying to use two toothpicks to balance a watermelon.

Yeah, after much thought, that doesn’t sound like fun, does it? Imagine how it feels being the toothpicks.

One of the things Dave and I have been marveling about during my pregnancy is the fact that I still look so young. I always chalked it up to being a little underweight, but now that I’ve gained 25+ lbs and actually look of normal height and weight as everyone else, I am at a loss as to why people are still confusing me with being 14 years old. Perhaps it is because of my round face? Well, it got a lot rounder since pregnancy. Ha. Maybe it’s because of my hair style? Or that I don’t wear make-up? I don’t really know what it is. All I know is, at this rate, I’ll not have to use any type of top wrinkle cream for a long, long time. Or ever, if I can help it!